Adcom
GTP-450
Preamplifiers

Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
thelux-man
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: January 24, 2011

Bottom Line:

I have used this adcom pre for about 8 years , have been very happy with it the entire time. It delivers rich ,transparent, natural sound . Clean without being sterile , smooth deep bass , crisp and articulate highs. Currently in combination with a 5m21 lab reference luxman power amp and Platinum Audio duos.
Dollar for dollar , you can't touch this , especially at the typical used price.

First of all let me say that poor reviews based on what a product does not have or the reviewer wish it had should have no baring on the review itself. Do your research before buying something so you'll know what you're getting. No this preamp does not have balanced outs, phono, nor tone defeat....but guess what, I knew that going in. Base the review on what it sounds like in your system based on other SIMILAR products you have heard.....that means keeping it in the same price range as well. Okay, that's all for my rant.
I've only been using it a few weeks, but so far so good. I've not used too many preamps in my day, so basing it on what I've heard before. I like the Tuner, although I don't listen to much FM....I may just start.
It sounds nice and full, clear, clean and with good imaging. One complaint might be the remote's volume does have some pretty big leaps...oh well.
Might not be the last preamp I own, but worth the $$$ I spent on it.

This is a temporary replacement while I complete the building of my version of Aunt Corey's pre-amp. It replaced my radically modified Hafler DH110 after it expired in the middle of a listening session. I am using a fully POOGED Hafler DH200 with full bore CAT-5 speaker cables into Acoustat 2-SW's. All interconnects are made by yours truly using Belden cable and Cardas plugs. I must thank Mr. T for the loan/gift of this unit.

The GTP450 is a great preamp/tuner and it sure doesn't deserve a rating less than 4. The tuner built into this unit is excellent alone and the preamp section is just as good. I have used this unit on a Conrad Johnson power amp and it produced a great soundstage wide and deep with articulate detail and does so without harshness or glare. I realize this unit is midfi and it doesn't take the purist approach but i simply like the way it allows me to enjoy my music and that is the bottom line. Also i would like to point out that the new Adcom preamp/tuners do not sound as good as these older models because i have tried one.

I was using a Keenwood C-2 at the time with a dynaco st120 & heresey II's. I got the gtp-450 & the gfa-7300. The improvement was beautiful, nice sound stage , very good musical pre-amp. I didn't however like the volume control on the remote it was either quiet or loud. But over all a very good pre-amp